Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman lauded "incredible" Lionel Messi as the superstar captain prepares to equal Xavi's historic appearance record.

Messi is one game away from matching Xavi as the players with the most games in Barcelona's history – 767 – ahead of Monday's LaLiga clash against Huesca.

Barca's Messi, who already holds the record for most trophies (34) and goals (658) in club history at Camp Nou, equalled Barca's all-time LaLiga appearances mark set by Xavi last month.

To date, Messi has featured in 509 LaLiga matches, while playing 149 Champions League fixtures, 79 Copa del Rey games, 20 in the Supercopa de Espana, five in the Club World Cup and four in the UEFA Super Cup.

"Well it is an incredible number of games," Koeman told reporters. "That also shows what Xavi did for the club, and now Messi will equal the number games of Xavi.

"It will be a great day and then the next that will be one more than Xavi achieved with Barcelona. It is incredible because that shows how important he is and was for Barcelona.

"The number of games, the number of goals, the number of hat-tricks, the number of titles.

"Let's hope that we will continue with Leo, winning titles, what he showed and what he did for this club."

The 33-year-old Messi tops LaLiga's goalscoring charts this season with 19 as Barca look to close within four points of leaders Atletico Madrid.

Messi has been involved in five goals in two games against Huesca in LaLiga (two goals and three assists), including two goals and two assists in his only league appearance against them at Camp Nou.

Barcelona have gone 16 games without losing in LaLiga (W13 D3) – the best current unbeaten streak of any team in the five major leagues in Europe.

Stefano Pioli says it is understandable Milan are struggling to cope with a crippling injury list after losing further ground in the Serie A title race.

Milan fell to a 1-0 loss at home to Napoli on Sunday through Matteo Politano's strike early in the second half, the Inter loanee's fourth goal in his past eight league games - as many as he managed in his first 17 appearances of the campaign.

The defeat leaves Pioli's men nine points behind leaders Inter, having themselves been at the summit just a month ago.

Milan were again without striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Napoli, as well as Mario Mandzukic, while Ante Rebic and Hakan Calhanoglu have also spent time on the sidelines.

That told as the Rossoneri failed to find a way past David Ospina from their five shots on target, though Pioli pointed out fellow heavyweights Inter and Juventus would also struggle if they were without their best players.

"When you are missing that many players, it does make a difference, especially when they are players who also bring experience and leadership," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"We had to play many games without a real centre-forward, so considering all of that, the team deserves praise for all they've been able to do in the circumstances.

"Try to imagine Inter without [Romelu] Lukaku, Lautaro [Martinez] or [Alexis] Sanchez; maybe Juventus without [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Alvaro] Morata or [Federico] Chiesa.

"We had more than half the season without Zlatan, while Rebic and Calhanoglu were also injured for long periods.

"We showed all week that this is not just a strong team, but a special one. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough tonight.

"We should've either been more courageous or sat back more, but tonight we tended to be somewhere in-between and were caught in no man's land."

Milan have now won just two of their past six league matches and are only six points better off than fifth-placed Napoli, who also have a game in hand to play.

And with the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie with Manchester United to come on Thursday, three days before a trip to Fiorentina, Pioli accepts fatigue is now playing a big part.

"It was a very tough and tiring week. I saw a performance that was sufficient, but that's not enough," he said.

"We returned from Manchester at 3am on Friday morning. It's obvious the Europa League is more stressful and damaging than the Champions League, especially when we started in September.

"Having said that, we are Milan and would never want to be without that European presence. We weren't expecting to be in second place, but now that we are here, we want to keep hold of it.

"Inter have the momentum - they really started to step on the gas after their Champions League exclusion and it allowed them a full week to prepare for every game.

"We are not looking ahead or over our shoulders; we just stay focused on our path."

Napoli, previously without an away win in four league outings, are now unbeaten in their past six league encounters with Milan at San Siro since December 2014.

The home side's misery was compounded late on when, shortly after Theo Hernandez had a strong penalty shout rejected, substitute Ante Rebic was dismissed for dissent.

Despite now being closer to fifth place than first, however, midfielder Sandro Tonali insists Milan are still looking up the table rather than down.

"I don't think there is fear, otherwise we'd lose every game," he said. "We are here and must continue to aim high and not give up now."

"This is not the game we prepared - it was not what we intended to do. Napoli closed down all the spaces and we didn't create enough scoring opportunities.

"The ones we did create with Rafa Leao were not converted and then Napoli scored their first real chance."

Cristian Garin prevailed in his hometown, crowned Chile Open champion with a three-set victory over Facundo Bagnis.

Garin, who had not won a match in 2021 before arriving in Santiago, claimed his first ATP Tour trophy on home soil thanks to Sunday's 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 triumph.

The top seed and 24-year-old only dropped one set throughout the ATP 250 tournament as he became the first Chilean player to win a home event since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009.

Bagnis was contesting his first final aged 31 and he was unable to see it through against Garin, who celebrated his fifth ATP title – all of them on clay.

Angel Di Maria and an as of yet unnamed Paris Saint-Germain team-mate had their houses broken into during Sunday's game with Nantes.

Di Maria was taken off midway through the second half at Parc des Princes, after a curious discussion between officials – including sporting director Leonardo, who appeared visibly angry – in the stands, and the coaching staff on the touchline over the phone.

The substitution caused confusion - not only off the pitch, but also on it. PSG conceded just before Di Maria went off, and then again nine minutes later to throw away their lead and ultimately lose 2-1.

After Di Maria, who signed a new deal with the capital club earlier this week, went off, Mauricio Pochettino spoke to his compatriot in the dressing room before returning to the touchline.

RMC Sport reported during the game that Di Maria had subsequently left the stadium and that he had been taken off due to a "serious personal matter."

Canal+ and RMC Sport provided a further update at full-time, stating that Di Maria, along with a PSG team-mate, had their homes targeted while the game was ongoing.

According to the media outlets, PSG confirmed the reports, with RMC Sport also claiming that both attacks took place while the respective families of the players were at home.

Mauro Icardi suffered a burglary in February, while Di Maria has previously been the victim of such a crime, during his time at Manchester United in 2014-15.

While PSG did not immediately release an official statement, Mauricio Pochettino told a news conference: "There are situations outside of football that also explain the second half.

"It's not an excuse but there was a drop in energy. We talked about things other than football after the game in the locker room."

"The group is very concerned."

Cristiano Ronaldo explained his "everlasting and unconditional admiration" for Pele after the Juventus star surpassed the Brazil legend's tally to become the top goalscorer in history.

Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick on Sunday to inspire Juve to a 3-1 win over Cagliari in Serie A and move onto 770 career goals.

Pele, who spent 18 years with Santos before moving to play in the United States in 1975, scored 757 official goals in his career, helping Brazil win three World Cups.

Ronaldo hit that total in January, but there was some confusion over Pele possibly scoring another 10 goals which could be counted among official statistics – nine for Sao Paulo State and one for the Brazilian Military Team.

As such, Ronaldo insisted he waited until he surpassed 767 goals to celebrate.

"The last few weeks were filled with news and stats considering me the world’s top scorer in football history, overcoming Pele’s 757 official goals," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram.

"Although I'm thankful for that recognition, now it's time for me to explain why I didn't acknowledge that record until this moment.

"My everlasting and unconditional admiration for mister Edson Arantes do Nascimento, such as the respect that I have for mid-20th century football, led me to take into account his 767 scores, assuming his nine goals for Sao Paulo State Team, as well as his single goal for the Brazilian Military Team, as official goals.

"The world has changed since then and football has changed as well, but this doesn't mean that we can just erase history according to our interests

"Today, as I reach the 770 official goals in my professional career, my first words go straight to Pele. There's no player in the world who hasn't been raised listening to stories about his games, his goals and his achievements, and I'm no exception.

"For that reason, I'm filled with joy and pride as I acknowledge the goal that puts me on top of the world's goalscoring list, overcoming Pele's record, something that I could never have dreamed of while growing up as a child from Madeira.

"Thanks to all of those who took part of this amazing journey with me. To my team-mates, to my opponents, to the fans of the beautiful game all over the world and, above all, to my family and close friends: trust me when I say that I couldn't have done it without you."

Prior to Ronaldo's Instagram post, Pele had used his official Twitter account to congratulate the 36-year-old Portugal star.

"Cristiano, what a beautiful journey you are having!" Pele tweeted.

"I admire you a lot and this is no secret to anyone. Congratulations on breaking my record of goals in official matches. I leave this photo in your honour, with great affection, as a symbol of a friendship that has existed for many years."

Paris Saint-Germain failed to capitalise on Lille dropping points as they suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat against relegation-threatened Nantes.

Lille were held by Monaco earlier on Sunday and PSG looked set to replace them at the Ligue 1 summit once they found the breakthrough, but remarkably Nantes hit back in the second half to salvage a potentially massive win.

Alban Lafont produced a number of smart saves as to keep PSG at bay before he was eventually beaten by Julian Draxler in the 42nd minute.

Given Nantes' lack of attacking threat in the first half, Draxler's goal looked as though it would be enough until Randal Kolo Muani pounced on Kylian Mbappe's mistake to restore parity and subsequently teed up Moses Simon to complete an unlikely turnaround.

PSG went close twice in quick succession with 11 minutes on the clock, as Lafont tipped Angel Di Maria's long-range effort over before gratefully seeing Marquinhos' header from the resulting corner skim the top of the net.

Nantes were convinced they were owed a penalty soon after but Presnel Kimpembe was not adjudged to have fouled Kolo Muani.

Mauricio Pochettino's men made the most of that let-off just before half-time, Draxler capitalising on a failed clearance and lashing a left-footed effort out of Lafont's reach.

Mbappe went close early in the second half yet shot wide after doing the hard part.

The France star was made to pay at the other end, his wayward pass going straight to Kolo Muani, who impressively jinked past Kimpembe and finished emphatically.

Kolo Muani was decisive again 19 minutes from time, latching onto a flick-on over the top before squaring to Simon for an easy finish – the goal allowed to stand following a lengthy VAR check for offside.

PSG piled the pressure on but their desperation yielded little, consigning them to successive home league defeats for the first time since November 2012.

Inter loanee Matteo Politano scored the only goal as Milan's Serie A title hopes were dealt another huge blow with a 1-0 defeat at home to Napoli.

Antonio Conte's Inter moved nine points clear at the summit thanks to a late 2-1 win at Torino earlier on Sunday and that gap remains the same following stuttering Milan's fifth league loss of the campaign.

Both sides lacked quality in a low-key first half but it took just four minutes of the second for Napoli winger Politano to make the breakthrough at San Siro.

Milan had a late penalty appeal rejected for Tiemoue Bakayoko's challenge on Theo Hernandez, shortly before substitute Ante Rebic was sent off for dissent, as Napoli stretched their unbeaten league run away in this fixture to a sixth game.

Drew Brees has called time on his remarkable NFL career, announcing his retirement after 20 seasons.

Cristiano Ronaldo channelled his anger at Juventus' Champions League exit in midweek into a decisive display in the Bianconeri's 3-1 win over Cagliari on Sunday, according to head coach Andrea Pirlo. 

Juve were eliminated from Europe's elite club competition by Porto at the last-16 stage on Tuesday, going out on away goals after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate after extra time at the Allianz Stadium.

Sergio Oliveira scored the decisive goal late on from a free-kick that went straight through the Juve wall, with Ronaldo turning his back on the effort.

Former Bianconeri boss Fabio Capello singled out Ronaldo, while ex-president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli suggested Juve should never have spent €100million to sign the forward in 2018.

He responded in superb fashion at the Sardegna Arena, though, scoring a hat-trick inside 32 minutes. 

Only once before had Ronaldo scored a quicker hat-trick from kick-off, doing so after 20 minutes against Espanyol for Real Madrid in 2015.

The Portugal international is now four clear of Inter striker Romelu Lukaku at the top of the Serie A scoring charts, with 23 goals from as many appearances. 

In total, Ronaldo has scored 87 times for club and country in March, making it his favourite month of the year in terms of goals, surpassing September (86), while he has now also netted at all 18 stadiums he has played at in Serie A.

Pirlo was pleased with Ronaldo's display and dismissed suggestions he might have received a red card for a high challenge on Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno. 

"I think it was a classic situation during play, both of them were looking at the ball and didn't realise how close they were," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"He was angry the same way everyone was after the missed qualification, but he did his talking on the pitch with three goals and that's all that matters.

"It was the right approach, which we needed after failing to qualify the other day, and we started on the right foot.

"All we can do is focus on our own results, getting as many points as possible, winning as many games as possible and then at the end seeing where we are."

Juve's win takes them clear of fourth-placed Atalanta and to within one point of Milan, who play in Sunday's late game.

They remain 10 points behind leaders Inter, having played a game less than Antonio Conte's side, and defender Giorgio Chiellini insists the reigning champions are not thinking too much about the Serie A pacesetters. 

"It was a tough test, as Cagliari are a very good team," he said. "We've got Benevento up next and need to find that consistency we've been lacking so far this season.

"With all due respect for Inter, we have to focus only on our own results. Once we reach the end, we'll see where we are, but the only course we can take is to focus one game at a time and keep going.

"We spoke within the dressing room. This isn't the moment to be talking too much, our strength has always been giving our response on the pitch. I think if we maintain that unity, we'll do well."

Inter assistant coach Cristian Stellini hailed the impact of substitutes Christian Eriksen and Alexis Sanchez in the Serie A leaders' 2-1 win over Torino on Sunday. 

The Nerazzurri's winning streak looked in danger when Antonio Sanabria cancelled out Romelu Lukaku's 62nd-minute penalty – Inter's first shot on target – 20 minutes from full-time. 

Lautaro Martinez sealed all three points for Inter, though, heading home a teasing cross from Sanchez in the 85th minute. 

Stellini – in charge due to Antonio Conte serving a one-match suspension – praised the contribution of the Chile international and Eriksen, who had been linked with a move away from San Siro in the mid-season transfer window. 

"This win was crucial against a team that sits back. They don't concede a lot," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"We needed an episode to break the deadlock. We were lucky to get that penalty kick and then we did well when we scored that second goal.

"Sanchez and Eriksen changed the game. We knew it. Eriksen was ready, albeit with some physical problems. We had prepared it this week. We knew they could be dangerous coming off the bench.

"Christian has changed his performances. He's always tried hard. In the beginning, it could be challenging to adapt to a different kind of football, but now he's settled in well.

"Lautaro and Lukaku have many qualities, they are solid, they complete each other, and they sacrifice for the team.

"Sometimes we have to stop them, telling them they can't train too much. Now we can breathe a little bit, and we can take care of every detail."

Martinez's winner means he is up to 14 goals in 27 Serie A matches this season, equalling his best-ever return in the Italian top flight.

It was the fourth consecutive game against Torino in which he has scored and the Argentina striker said Inter needed "heart and soul" to edge past Davide Nicola's side. 

"We knew Torino needed points, but we needed them too. It was a tough game, but we managed to win, and we are so happy," he said.

"We train every day to do the right things. We prepared the game differently. We needed quality, heart and soul. We proved we aim for something important.

"We want to win, it doesn't matter who scores. It's important to find the net, I am happy to score and I am happy."

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a first-half hat-trick as Juventus took out their Champions League frustration on Serie A strugglers Cagliari in a 3-1 away win.

The subject of transfer speculation after disappointing in the Bianconeri's European exit to Porto in midweek, Ronaldo came to the fore on Sunday with the second-fastest treble of his outstanding career.

The 32-minute blitz was enough to cast aside 17th-placed Cagliari, who had conceded all of their previous six Serie A goals after the break.

Giovanni Simeone struck back to cap an improved second-half display from Cagliari, but Juve comfortably eased to a third straight league win.

Federico Chiesa had already equalled his career-best tally of assists in a single Serie A campaign, and the winger nearly had a seventh of the season when he crossed for Ronaldo, whose header was deflected wide.

Juve's opener came from the resulting corner, Ronaldo powering in Juan Cuadrado's cross.

Alvaro Morata squandered a great chance 12 minutes later but made amends with a terrific ball for Ronaldo, who drew a rash lunge from Alessio Cragno and duly thumped home the subsequent spot-kick.

Having crafted Morata's wasted opportunity, Chiesa got the assist his performance deserved in the 32nd minute, his drilled crossfield pass teeing up Ronaldo to complete a perfect hat-trick with an arrowed left-footed finish beyond Cragno.

Cagliari started the second half brightly and, after some smart stops from Wojciech Szczesny, were rewarded when Simeone slammed home from a precise Gabriele Zappa cutback.

VAR deemed Joao Pedro not to have been fouled by Adrian Rabiot inside Juve's box soon after.

Chiesa just failed to turn in Cuadrado's centre to restore a three-goal advantage, but the visitors ultimately avoided any further scares to move within 10 points of leaders Inter.

Johnny Sexton kicked a late penalty to make sure Ireland once again got the better of Scotland in the Six Nations, the visitors running out 27-24 winners at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Scotland went into the fixture still in with a shot of claiming the title but a 17th loss in the last 20 meetings between the two nations in the competition means Wales and France will fight it out to be crowned champions in 2021.

Hamish Watson's converted try in the 74th minute completed an impressive comeback from Scotland, who had trailed 24-10 at one stage in the second half.

However, having worked so hard to get back level in the contest, Scotland conceded a penalty from the kick-off, allowing Sexton to settle a see-saw contest in favour of Ireland.

The hosts had not played for a month – their round three fixture against France was called off due to a coronavirus outbreak within Les Bleus' squad – and were caught cold in the opening minutes of both halves.

Sexton slotted over an early penalty to start the scoring before putting his right boot to good use in open play, a cross-field kick meant for Keith Earls ending up breaking kindly for the late-arriving Robbie Henshaw to ground.

Finn Russell replied with a penalty and then cashed in on a fortunate break to get Scotland's first try.

Stuart Hogg charged down a clearing kick and twice hacked on before Russell did the same, James Lowe’s attempt to deal with the situation only knocking the ball up in the air to set up an easy finish for the fly-half.

The conversion made it 10-8 to Scotland, but a pair of Sexton penalties before the break was followed up by Tadhg Beirne plunging over in the 49th minute, his try by the posts leaving an easy kick to make it 21-10.

A further Sexton penalty built the lead out to 14, yet substitute Huw Jones gave Scotland hope, bursting through some weak tackling to make an instant impact following his introduction.

Hogg landed the extras having taken over kicking duties, the full-back also on target to bring his team level after Watson's strength close to the line allowed the flanker to force the ball down.

Yet Sexton scuppered Scotland's hopes as he had the last word, drilling over the match-winning kick from close to the touchline.